I Carry Your Heart With Me
by england2newyork
Summary: On Oct. 31, 2030, Auror Lily Luna Potter goes missing while on a mission in Bulgaria. Without any leads, Harry Potter is forced to declare this case as cold on Jan. 5, 2031. 6 months later, Scorpius Malfoy finds something that blows the case wide open.
1. Prologue

Lily ran her hands up and down her arms to rid herself of the cold. All she had as a barrier between her and the freezing rain was a jean jacket, which was slowly getting more and more soaked. Her auror squad had sent her out to watch their suspect, to no avail. The guy hadn't even shown up at the diner. She sat there for three hours before deciding to return to base. She would've re-thought that had she seen the weather.

Was it her, or was it getting colder?

Her red hair was sticking to her face and flying in her eyes. She wished she could just apparate, but since they were operating in a muggle neighborhood, that wouldn't be such a wise idea. Silence settled over the street as others that were on the sidewalk with her fled to the safety of their homes. She couldn't hear the thud of her own feet as it began to hail. She finally ducked under the cover of an awning, deciding she could wait it out till the bruising hail halted.

Suddenly she was in blistering pain. She opened her mouth to let out a scream, but found soon that someone was covering her mouth with a cloth. She felt herself getting dizzy as the pain made her vision go white.

_Author Note: So this is just the prologue to this new story idea i've had in mind for a while now. Should I continue?  
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	2. Chapter 1

_Authors Note: Okay, in case you forgot from the short description to the story, Lily gets taken on October 31, 2030 and she is 23 years old. I should have mentioned that in the prologue… it's kind of important. Now go enjoy!_

**November 1, 2030**

The Auror Department was a mess, and ever the diligent boss, Harry Potter and took it upon himself to handle it. As of now, a cursed magic carpet had gotten loose and was attempting to strangle one of the younger aurors-in-training. One fast flick of Harry's wand should have done the trick, but the more and more people used magic on it, the tighter its grip got on the young aurors neck.

"STOP!" Harry yelled and all wands in the room lowered to each aurors side. Harry sent one of his more veteran agents to take the young wizard to an interrogation room so they could see how to remove the carpet that seemed to be morphing into the young man's skin. Harry ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh; he was hoping to put off his next task till later, but there was nothing left to do that another auror couldn't handle.

He retreated into his office only to be greeted with a never-ending pile of paperwork, and with him slamming his office door shut; a stack fell gracelessly to the floor next to his desk. Groaning internally to himself, Harry knelt, feeling his joints creak a bit as he gathered the papers. Age had been kind to Harry, but not generous enough to let him escape the ache and pains that come with being 51. He re-assembled the pile in (hopefully) the correct order, and as he straightened, he felt his spine pop. It wasn't a painful sensation so much as it was an uncomfortable one. He dumped the stack onto his desk and maneuvered around the awkwardly-placed potted plant to his chair.

He reached up to the nearest pile and grabbed his quill from his desk drawer and began filling out was looked to be _another _dark artifact form. As he wrote, he let his thoughts drift.

Why hadn't anyone ever mentioned that success made the job more routine? When he was in the field, he was out combating the dark arts to protect his family, but now as head of the Auror Department, he rarely was involved unless it was extremely pertinent of him to be. It does keep him safer, though, not having to be in the field, knowing that he gets to live another day to love his family.

So why had he let Lily become an auror?

Well he hadn't so much let her as he argued with her about it. He was terrified, and still is, that he is going to hear news that she was killed in the line of duty, and even he lived another day to love, she wouldn't. She was a skilled witch though, and an excellent fighter. He had confidence in her abilities, but this didn't keep the worry away. Some days, he does wish she gone into the world of politics and not the world of war; less gray hairs for him and her mother.

She would have been miserable in any other job.

She had told Harry this when he posed his arguments against her joining the aurors. The fire in her eyes as the said that she can only be happy keeping those she loved safe made him give in to her.

"She's too much like me for her own good," Harry said to no one and internally chuckled.

The clock ticked sluggishly by as Harry delved deeper into the pile of papers. Yet, before he knew it, Ron was standing in the frame of his office door telling him it was time to close up shop, going off on how Harry works to hard and that even heroes need a break. Harry placed his quill in the ink pot and smiled at his old friend.

"You've been saying the same thing for years, and yet you never cease to be right Ron," Harry stood then, and was assaulted by an owl flying past Ron's head. Ron stood there cursing the bloody bird's existence as Harry took the thick manila envelope from his claw. Once free of the delivery, the owl hooted and flew off, proceeding to smack Ron in the eye with its wing.

"Fuck, I hate those things," Ron muttered as he rubbed his eye. Harry only vaguely heard him as he stared at the envelope in front of him. Red ink covered the entire thing, all saying **READ IMMEDIATELY**. Harry hated any bad news from his field agents, but especially when it came from Bulgaria, where Lily was stationed. Harry untied the flap and slid out three sheets of parchment.

The first was a basic report. No trace of dark wizard activity, as of Oct. 30 2030. Mildly disappointing, but not urgent news. Harry moved on.

The second was another report, but it was for yesterday. Sent Agent Potter out into the field, we think she found something. Harry was frustrated by the vagueness, what did she find? Did they make an arrest? Do they need help? Aggravated, Harry got to the last sheet.

The third read;

_Sir,_

_We regret to inform you that while we believe Lily had found something, the reason behind this is rather unsettling. Last night, on October 31, 2030, Agent Potter left at about 5:00pm to stake out where we thought to have seen dark activity. She never returned. We've spent the day searching for any trace of her before we wrote this to you. We are sorry sir, but we fear Lily may have been taken._

_Agents Matheson and Flockhart_

Harry could barley breathe. He didn't want to accept that Lily had been taken. She was too smart, too observant to have gone missing. He watched as the paper vibrated from his shaking. He felt Ron shaking his shoulders, trying to get him to speak.

He shoved Ron's hands off and shoved the papers onto the floor. He didn't care how numb his limbs felt, this was the time for action. He knew he would have to go through procedure for this, no matter how much he wanted to get the search going, he had no choice. He was handcuffed by policies he had helped to re-write.

**February 5, 2031**

Harry was sitting at his desk, elbows on his knees, face in his palms, tears in his eyes. All the papers on his desk said the same thing, and had said the same thing for three months. No trace of Lily anywhere. They had practically torn Bulgaria apart searching for her, and the neighboring countries. He can't keep the search going any longer. He had already extended it past the 2 month limit, and he didn't think Kingsley would let him extend this another month. This decision was going to kill him and his family.

He had to declare his own daughters case as cold.


	3. Chapter 2

Authors Note: Wow, it's been a while since I've updated this story…. Sorry It started with me getting a new laptop and ended with me scrambling to get off my butt and do my course work. But, I will be trying to update sooner rather than later with the next chapter. This chapter is a lengthy one, so I hope you have time to sit and read it. I am warning you now, this one is a more emotional chapter dealing with the fallout from Lily's case being called cold. Enjoy!

**January 6, 2030**

The previous day had been hell. Sadly, the best part of it was declaring Lily's case a cold case. Harry now stood in his daughter's apartment, left to deal with her belongings.

When a case is declared cold, the person is assumed dead or never to return. A thought Harry could not bear was Lily being dead. She wasn't dead, he could feel it.

Harry stood in the entry hallway of her flat, afraid to step forward and to have the assault of her memory. Ginny told him he had to do this before she kicked him to the couch. Again, yesterday had been hell. He took the first step forward, noting the squeaking floorboard James had caused by dropping a box when he helped her to move in. Harry walked into her living/dining area, and saw dishes unwashed in the sink, pictures plastering the refrigerator, and papers thrown this way and that. Aurors had been here, to search for any evidence of her wanting to leave, and it was not surprising when that search came up cold. Harry smiled at the forgotten dishes in the sink; Lily was never one to clean, she would have the intent but get distracted and forget about it. She believed there were more important things to be concerned over then dirty dishes. Harry sat on her couch, and stared at the fireplace. The wood was long ago burned, leaving only white ash. She would have usually replenished the wood supply by now. Lily despised the cold. Harry was amazed at the behaviors that his daughter had, they reflected his own. He never noticed till now, was always thinking of other things, but now all he can think of is Lily, she's been a constant on his thoughts for months. Shame he never thought of her this much when he had her around.

Harry noted that her mantle had pictures of the family; James, his wife Lori, and their baby girl, Marion; the family portrait with the entire family (Weasleys, Potters and all) and then a picture of Harry and Lily when she was about 6 years old. Harry stood and picked up that portrait.

She had more freckles at that age; they covered nearly every part of her face and she looked more like a Weasley then any of his other children. As she got older, her freckles diminished to nothing, and she looked more and more like his mother. He counted the spots on her 6-year old face; 53 total, nothing compared to Ron, but enough to drive Lily crazy as a child.

Harry reached for his wallet in his back pocket, and pulled out a picture he had of Lily from her graduation at Hogwarts. By 17, Lily's freckles had all but vanished, not that they could have been noticed on the same face as that beaming smile. This picture, unlike the rest in the apartment, did not move. Harry found some sort of nostalgia in having a muggle style portrait; he has one of each child. In the picture, Lily had been taken by surprise and by luck she happened to be smiling as she turned for the photo.

Graduations in the wizarding world worked differently than those of a muggle world (unsurprisingly of course). Rather than a cap and gown, everyone had to dress in their best clothing, and each student got a pin (or more) to wear on a sash given to them the day of graduation. Lily had gotten three pins; one for Quidditch captain, one for best scores on her N.E.W.T's, and one made just for her; the most injuries gained in a Quidditch match.

He remembered the graduation, but the conversation him and Lily had after the party had come to a close much more vividly. She was sitting on her bed, staring around the walls of her room when he poked his head into the bedroom. Next to her left leg there was a picture of her and Albus, both heavily freckled, the year when James had gone to Hogwarts for the first time.

"_When I was 13, you asked me why I was so thrilled to see my freckles fading, do you remember?" Lily asked when she noticed his presence. He nodded and entered the room to sit beside her. _

"_I never answered; I always thought the answer but upset you I suppose. Although at 13, I was not very tact when it came down to expressing… well anything. I feel maybe I should give you an answer now, so my actions later won't come as a shock to you." Lily looked up at Harry then, her eyes very guarded as to not reveal her emotions. Harry stared back in much of the same way, urging her to continue on. _

"_When I was a kid, I was always grouped up with the rest of the family. I was always just part of the massive Weasley/Potter family, and when I went to Hogwarts, I was expected to be like all of my cousins and siblings. When I didn't understand how to make a basic healing potion, the professor said that Rose understood how to make it faster than everyone else. When I had a hard time learning Protego in Defense class, I was told the same thing, only it was about Albus. This was continuous, always being compared, never getting to show who I was. Once I saw my freckles go away, I was thrilled, I would finally be able to say that I was not at all like the rest of the family; I was Lily, just Lily. The comparisons did not stop till Albus and Rose had graduated, but I could hold onto the fact that once I was gone, I would not be assumed to be a Weasley, or a Potter, or anybody. Just another stranger on the street, and I want that. Don't get me wrong, I love all of the family, but I'm sick of everyone being disappointed when I'm not like the rest of them. " She looked away then, down at the picture on the duvet. _

"_Lily look at me. I can't pretend like I understand everything you have been feeling, but I can understand why it bothered you so much. I'm not mad; I would never have gotten mad had you told me that. The family is massive; I suppose it can make you feel blurred in the painting. Why does that have to do with your plans for your future though?" Lily sighed, and lay back on her bed, running a hand through her hair. _

"_I want to distance from the family a bit, not emotionally, physically. I'm moving to a flat I've already bought over the summer. The apartment is in Bath, England, where hopefully I can let the world see who I am without getting grouped with the family. I will still always visit the family and I will never stop talking, but I can't make my own life when certain things are expected of me because I look like a Weasley."_

Harry came out of his memory, and put the picture back in his wallet. Lily moved to Bath, and never totally abandoned the family, just as she said she'd do. A year later, she moved to this apartment, back in London, because she missed her family too much. Who knew that 2 years after he move here, she'd be gone?

A heavy hand hammered on the door then. Sighing, Harry stood, feeling his back pop and walked to the door. The landlord was standing on the other side.

"Mr. Potter, I thought it was more of your investigators again. Well, seeing how you're here, I need t ask you a question; what do you want to do about the apartment. I read in the paper the search is over." The landlord was a selfish man, focused on money and was not to happy that because of the search, he wasn't paid Lily's rent.

"I'll sign her lease and pay for it for the 2 years. If we don't find her in two years, go ahead and put the apartment for sale." Harry said as short as he could. As he filled out the paperwork and the landlord left him with his thoughts once again. He sat on the floor, leaning against the door.

Harry wasn't ready to accept Lily as being gone, even though all the facts are staring him right in the face. He wanted to keep the apartment ready for her, when he found her. If he found her was more accurate, but if wasn't good enough.

Lily is his little girl, no matter her age, and he won't rest until he's found her, even if he won't have the aurors backing him. He reached up to adjust his glasses, and felt hot tears running down his face.

**Godric's Hollow**

Ginny was doing the laundry, and was bringing her and Harrys clothing down to the machine. She could have used magic, but she didn't feel up to it. She hadn't felt up to doing much for the past couple of months, and that only got worse when Harry had come home with the worst news she has ever heard, even worse than being told Fred had died. Lily was gone, and now no one was going to be searching for her. Just the thought brought tears to her eyes.

She pushed the moisture back, trying to be strong. She didn't know who she was being strong for. Harry wasn't home, and probably wouldn't be for a few more hours.

Ginny felt guilty for making his confront with Lily's belongings on his own, although this morning she had no problem making him go. It's not his fault the case had to be called cold, but she didn't know who else to get mad at. She wanted to go down to the offices and tear everyone to shreds. How could they call her daughter's case as cold? Her only daughter was gone, their bosses only daughter was gone and it was like they didn't even care.

She slammed the basket on the top of the dryer, and the metal shook, ringing and the sound echoing through the empty house. She stared at the washer, but not movie to start the wash. Lily used to always help her with Laundry when the boys were at Hogwarts. It became a bonding thing for them, and it also was a way to help Lily feel better about being the last child in the house. She was terribly lonely without Albus being there.

Pushing back more tears, she marched away from the laundry, determined to hold it together. If she started crying now, she wasn't sure she could ever stop. Her job did not make coping with her loss any easier either.

She was editor-in-chief of the Daily Prophet, meaning she had to read the many articles about Lily's case and approve them to go into the paper. She had felt sick during the whole process, wanting to rip up every last article and tell all the authors to go to hell. This business should remain within the family, but she knew that would not have been a good idea. Harry wasn't happy about the articles either, but they helped to alert the wizarding world to watch for her. To no avail, all the clues given to Harry came up dry; he hadn't even gotten close once.

Ginny realized she had been standing, staring at a picture of Lily on the mantle. She picked it up, and then dropped it as she collapsed into tears.

She was angry; with herself because she couldn't hold herself together, but she was also in misery; he daughter had been taken from her. Ginny had already almost lost her as a baby, and now she had. The thought of Lily's near death as a baby only made the tears flow harder.

Lily had been born too early, by about 2 months. Ginny had thought she had miscarried when she arrived at St. Mungos, and was rushed immediately to a room. Lily had been so small when she had been born, and Ginny only got to hold her for a couple seconds before she was taken away. Lily wasn't crying when she was born; her lungs were not fully developed, and they had to get her taken care of. Ginny remembered looking over at Harry, with tears in her eyes, and his face was red with the effort not to cry. The doctor returned, only to say Lily was probably going to die. Harry rushed away then, to go see her. Two weeks went by, and Lily was thriving, and the doctors called it a miracle. Her lungs fully developed in 2 weeks, when it should normally take a month. She went home a week after that, as healthy as a baby born on the due date. Ginny was always grateful to have Lily after that, knowing how close she had come to losing her.

Ginny now had lost her, and there was a potential she might not ever get her back.

She heard a pop from the kitchen, knowing it was Harry. He walked in, but her tears blurred her vision. When he wrapped his arms around her, she felt drops hit the top of her head. He was crying with her, and they stood there, supporting each other's weight, and did not separate, not that they wanted to.


	4. Chapter 3

Authors Note: With summer fast approaching, I will be updating more (like once every couple of weeks)… let's just say that last few months haven't even given me time to catch my breath :-).

**September 5, 2030; 11:30 pm; Godric's Hallow**

_"Daddy?" A small voice rang from the stairs as Harry sat at the breakfast bar staring down at the morning's prophet. He put down his coffee and looked up at his young daughter, who was holding her teddy bear to her side and staring at him from around the railing. He grinned; an involuntary response whenever he saw his little girl; and turned towards her. Lily came over and climbed into his lap. At age 4, Lily stood no taller than Harry's legs, and climbing up on the barstool he was sitting on was quite an impressive feat. _

"_Yes Lily-pad?" His pet name for her, and she stuck her lounge out at him in response. She grew really quite then, and Harry grew all the more concerned. Taking a breath she turned to him._

"_Norway, Daddy. I'm in Norway." Lily looked him dead in the eyes, brilliant blue meeting emerald green. Harry sat there, mouth agape, stunned. Before he could muster a response, she spoke again. "They're coming Daddy… I have to leave!" And she gracefully leaped from his lap, and she almost floated to the ground before bolting towards the front door. The entryway swung open to reveal a darkness that Lily quickly faded into, and his vision left with her. _

Harry sat straight up in bed, and glancing at the clock, he saw it was now two minutes till midnight. 1 hour of sleep so far. He looked over at his wife, whose back was to him and her side was rising up and down to show she was getting restful sleep. Being excruciatingly careful to not shake the bed and wake Ginny, he placed his feet to the cold hardwood and pushed his glasses onto his face. He walked the 20 steps it took the reach the master bathroom and closed the door softly behind him. He turned on the sink and splashed his face with some water, letting the drops run down his sleep shirt, hoping to shake the dream. Most of his dreams of Lily were usually memories, sweet bits of fluff that let him be truly happy for a short time, but this one was different. Ever since she was a girl, Lily showed a rather unique gift.

Yet, this gift was one she could only share with her father. Nor her mother or any of the other family members ever experienced this ability. Lily could communicate with Harry, sometimes, through his un-conscious mind. When James had broken his leg during her first year, that night he got a dream of Lily walking up to him and telling his to send James a get well basket. When James wife Lori had gone into labor in the middle of the night, Lily had come to him in a dream, carrying a balloon that read "It's a Girl!" and told him he was officially old, because he had a grandchild. All of these were done while Lily and Harry had both been slumbering, yet she had always meant to send him these messages. These were not accidental; she had control over it and could do it whenever she pleased.

Yet, the dream Harry had tonight did nothing to ease his mind. He wasn't sure if this was her communicating or not, as normally she was her current age when she did this. Maybe this was his mind giving his a clue that didn't exist, give him a reason to hope that he would find her that was not real. Yet, if this was a message, he wanted to know who chased her away from his mind. Had she escaped her captors, or was she held up captive somewhere and was only left alone for short periods? He didn't want to think about it. Yet he could not shake the thoughts that now bounced around his brain like angry wasps. Sighing, he sat against the shower door and let the cool glass give him gooseflesh, hoping it would calm him long enough to get restful sleep. He usually had busy days at the office, he knew tomorrow would be no exception.

**September 6, 2030; Noon; Ministry of Magic:**

Scorpius Malfoy was working through lunch again, as he had to go through and find the correct case file, the one the intern should have brought him in the first place. Granted, there were only half a million raids done by the aurors, but this one was rather unique. A ring that took over muggle technology and tried to murder the current user was a rarity. Sighing, trying to suppress his negative thoughts about the young intern, he began to dig through the next shelf of paperwork. Turned out the entire stack was all on Lily Potter. Amazing how much was done to find her; numerous search parties (many Scorpius had aided in), and so many interrogations that all the suspects began to run into being one person… not surprising considering her father. Harry had always been a determined sort and this was his daughter. Scorpius had no doubt in his mind Harry had yet to give up, even though the case was called cold. He had thrown himself into his work; while usually Harry would poke his head around and he made an effort to see most of the aurors, as of late no one had gotten any of those surprise visits.

Refocusing, he noticed a file that seemed somewhat out of place. It was one of the interrogations done involving Lily's case, but it was in the wrong spot, among the searches, where no one would have probably ever seen it. It was still sealed too… odd; Scorpius had thought Harry had gone through every file numerous times, and there was no way he missed one; Harry was very meticulous with his work. Breaking the seal, he was shown the pictures of three men and one woman. The first man was a Bartholomew Fletcher from Canada, and he had a lumberjack look to him, complete with a scraggly beard and cold blue eyes that mirrored the look of Scorpius' grandfathers. The next two were twins by the same of Jeremy and Jeered Nickels, both of Russian decent with dark eyes and long, greasy dark hair. The girl, Andrea Tamorah, stood out the most, with long blond locks and piercing grey eyes and she came from France.

They were an odd bunch. The quartet had met in Ireland five years previous and started a small team that slightly resembled the IRA, except they rarely accomplished anything. They spent more time using there magical ability's to play pranks on people they didn't like and were seemingly harmless. Yet clearly in this interview they had a much different view of themselves. Video capture became common place for these sort of things, and this one was no exception. Lifting the image, he watched as the interrogation unfolded. By the end he was astounded. Gathering up the file, he ran to Harry's office, praying to God he had worked through lunch too.

**1:00 pm**

Harry had worked his way through another lunch, not wanting to separate from his work. He seemed to despise having to come to work as of late, but he enjoyed the distraction from his thoughts. The mountains of paperwork kept his mind far away from thought of anything, especially Lily and of his numerous dreams. Yet he still despised coming to work, he felt as though he should be home, waiting for Ginny to come home and be there for her. Losing Lily had been equally if not more so, difficult for Ginny as well. But she didn't need to be taken care of like that, and Harry knew this, so he continued on. The resounding pounds on his office door woke him from his focus. He assumed this to be Ron attempting to get him to eat something, and told him to let himself in. The stark platinum hair startled Harry, not expecting to see Mr. Scorpius Malfoy stepping into his office.

He never had any problems with Scorpius; he was a far cry from the rest of his family, even became a Gryffindor at Hogwarts. To be honest he was one of the best aurors Harry ever had and while he had his moments of being steely and cold, his heart was always in the right place.

In his hands, Scorpius held a file that was packed full. Laying it on Harry's desk, Harry had to keep his jaw from dropping at what he saw. There were tons of files on Lily's case, but not only was this one completely new to him, but his contained something the case had been missing.

Clues.

Harry knew of the group interrogated here; and they were honestly a pathetic bunch, always desperate for attention yet too scared to do anything to gain any recognition. He began to watch the video capture. The auror interrogating was Cole Wright, and the only reason Harry knew him was because he had dated Rosie for a few months. In front of him, from left to right were the twins, Tamorah and Fletcher. Wright began speaking, starting with standard introduction for recording purposes.

"_Today is December 9__th__, 2029, midnight, and this is the interrogation of group 146A; RCF, short for Russian, Canadian and French." Cole took a breath and looked dead at the first twin, Jeremy. "Where were you on October 31__st__ of this year?"_

"_Bulgaria." Cole did not look surprised. Of course he was, they all were that is why they are here in the first place. Next question…_

"_Why?"_

"_To prove that this group is actually capable of something." Cole acted as thought this was nothing new, but the answer was startling, not in the actual words but how they were said. Jeremy seemed… proud, as though he had accomplished just that._

"_How did you plan on doing this?" Cole asked._

"_Nothing new, yet something new to us." Another odd answer spoken in the same tone. What did this son of a bitch have to be so damn proud about? Wright was clearly getting suspicious. Next question…_

"_What was that?" _

"_Theft, then get out and go to Norway."_

"_What kind of theft?"_

"_Curious, I thought we'd be harder to catch…."_

"_What. Kind. Of. Theft?"_

"_We have spent so long being a non-threat we thought we'd never be asked…"_

"_Goddamnit! Answer the question!"_

_The room got quiet then, and the quartet started at Cole like he had just sprouted another head, as though they did not comprehend his frustration. The girl spoke up then._

"_Why so angry, we are telling you exactly what you want to hear." The four grinned then, wickedly as though they knew something Cole didn't. As Cole pulled his wand in order to "interrogate" them further, an explosion knocked the door into his head. Cole collapsed to the ground, his skull bleeding profusely as a tall man stalked forward. His face was concealed by a hood and he grabbed the four in an embrace as though they were old friends. Handing the four back their wands they apparated away in a single pop. The man pointed his wand at Coles head "Obliviate." He sat and waited for Cole to come to before casting "Imperio" on the poor boy. Cole worked, clearly with his mind detached from his body, as he gathered up the case evidence into the file and before sealing the file the recording ceased, indicating Cole had grabbed the video clip. _

Harry swallowed down the angry lump in his throat. As Scorpius explained how he came across the file, it became obvious that the Imperioed Cole had been told to hold onto the file before shoving it in the wrong place with the others in order to keep it from being found. Harry waited for Scorpius to finish, before telling him to gather his squad and be back here as soon as he could. Once the door had shut, Harry leaned back in his chair and immediately regretting the decision as his back immediately protested, but he ignored the pain. He knew now that Lily had been communicating last night. She was in Norway, maybe with these people, maybe not. But this was the verification he needed, and the reason to re-open this case. He looked at the picture of her from her graduation again.

"I'm going to find you this time Lily-pad. I promise you." Harry said, as though the picture would speak back.

**Norway, 6:00 pm**

Lily was gasping for air as quietly as she could, leaning her hands against the rough brick of the alleyway. She had easily 60 miles to go before reaching the border of Norway and Sweden. Only a day ago had she tricked the information of her location from the bitch blond that came to give her food every few hours, and only hours ago had she managed to escape. Finally, she had freedom from them. The escape was risky; if one detail was off she'd be tortured to her wits end for even trying. The idea of more pain was terrifying enough, and gave Lily motivation to make sure everything went off perfectly. She'd even managed to find and leave with her wand.

She wanted to make sure they were not following her before attempting any magic, even apparition. She needed to make sure they wouldn't find her again. Her clothes were still the same as the day she had been taken, only they were tore up and stuck to her skin by blood and sweat.

She had no idea of what day it was. She only knew it was evening because of the sunset. God she had missed the sunset. Her time in captivity had given her no windows. She'd missed the outside, but most of all the sunsets. Sunsets had some sort of natural magic, always seemed to bring her good things; the first deep conversation her and her father shared when she was 14, her first kiss, and the first time she made love to a man had all happened during sunset. These memories are what she held onto, along with memories of her family while the twins tormented her to no end. She would imagine all these moments while she refrained from screaming as she writhed on the floor in white hot agony from the cruciatus curse. They never told her why they were torturing her, they just did.

The sun finished its day as the moon shown through the clouds. Lily glanced across the street and saw an empty muggle gas station, with a sleeping cashier. Taking her chance to fill her empty belly, she ran to the store. She took out her wand and destroyed the security cameras before grabbing one of the premade sandwiches out of the cold case, water and a box of black hair dye. She slunk into the filthy bathroom, and ate as fast as she could before reading the box on how the dye worked. She had never been good at glamour charms and muggle methods lasted longer than her charms ever did.

She got all the ingredients in the applicator bottle, shook, and bent over the sink to begin soaking her hair. Her hair was in bad shape, having grown long since her abduction. The ends were frayed, making the process even more of a pain, but soon her hair was the same raven color as her fathers. She rinsed off in the sink before using her wand to chop off her hair. It was back to the pixie cut she adored. Now onto the rest of her appearance. She started with cleaning off the blood.

She peeled the shirt from her body, unsurprised by the splotches of red she found there. She grabbed a paper towel, dampened it and began scrubbing. The rough texture of the towl made her skin red and blotchy, like she had hives, but soon enough her stomach and chest were clean. He stared at her bra that lay on the sink and wished she had new clothes. Her bra was ruined, covered in browning blood and dirt smudges, and the rest of her clothes were much of the same. Suddenly, a couple burst into the bathroom, both clearly from the bar next door.

Lily could smell the booze pouring off the two of them like a fountain. She gagged, the air suddenly a combination of alcohol and sex and the pair were flinging clothes in every direction. The stumbled into the handicap stall, clothing completly removed. Lily got a wicked idea.

Ignoring the sounds of ecstasy and the very clear view of the girl being slammed into the wall, Lily gathered up said girls' clothing. She was roughly Lily's size. Lily quickly finished cleaning her lower body before putting her underwear back on. She dressed in the girls discarded clothing, grabbed her water bottle and left, wand in hand.


End file.
